IKEA Malm Bedside Table Hack With Phone Charging

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The IKEA Malm bedside table hack is a great way to maximise storage, and if you’re looking for a taller bedside table, this 3-drawer IKEA bedside table is a great option. I have softened the look of the drawers by adding a wicker basket on top, and made them more functional by adding a plug socket, a phone charger, and a phone tray on the side.

IKEA Malm Bedside Table Hack With Phone Charging and Tray

As you can see, by adding the plug socket on the side, you can easily access this from the bedside, keeping the top free and allowing you to add the glass top. The little IKEA tray is magnetic and can be added to the side to hold your phone whilst it’s charging. The tray is from the office section at IKEA, meant to hold pens or erasers! Perfect size for a phone!

We love an IKEA hack, so I hope you love this little IKEA hack for your bedroom.

IKEA Malm Bedside Table Hack Without Phone Tray or Power

If you don’t need the plug socket added or try on the side, you can just do this IKEA Malm bedside table hack without them. Adding the basket to the top instead of the drawer softens the look and avoids 3 boring drawers.

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What To Buy

Purchase the IKEA Malm 3-drawer chest of drawers for £60; this will be the main base of the bedside table.

Purchase an IKEA UTSRUSTA shelf pack 40 x 37cm ; it’s not quite the right size, but it works ok.

BYHOLMA basket, grey, 25x29x15 cm

Desk socket with USB – pick one that works for you and your needs. Make sure it can be set into a surfae and if you decide you want it on the top, then make sure you get one that can be covered over so dust doesn’t get trapped in the plug. I liked mine on the side for this reason.

VEMUND pen/eraser holder as a tray to hold your phone. This is magnetic, so get some metal tape to stick to the units, which lets you remove it if you want to.

Metal tape 35mm, this is to attach the above tray to the side.

Some L brackets to attach the shelf to the front of the drawer unit.

Start making up the drawers, adding in the drawer sliders so you know where the postion of the drawers will be.

Measure out where you want the plug socket if you are placing it on the side of the unit.

Drilling a little pilot hole to help stop the wood from splitting.

Use a drill and a holesaw to bore a hole in the wood to the size you want for your deck plug socket. Check this with the plug socket you’ve purchased.

Make sure it fits the socket width.

Secure it inside the unit.

Carry on building the unit as per the IKEA instructions, so get the front drawer supports in, so you know where the drawers will sit.

Then you need to measure out where your top-level shelf will sit.

Underneath the shelf, you will see a cutout for the shelf bracket. You will need to cut the shelf down to size to fit into the unit and make some more little cutouts for the shelf brackets to sit on. We used some little ones we had left over, but you want to pick your own style. Just make sure they keep the drawers free and don’t catch on them underneath.

Measure out on the unit where the little cutouts for shelf supports will sit.

Drill your little pilot holes on the unit.

A larger hole was drilled for the shelf supports to go inside.

This is where you can place your little shelf supports.

I placed these little metal brackets on the back of the shelf, so that I could attach them to the front of the unit support. This gives the shelf support on the front of the unit.

Make your marks on the back of the support bar to show where to attach the brackets.

Install the drawers and you’re finished!

You can see the neat plug socket on the side of the unit, which gives you easy access to the sockets.

Adding the phone shelf tray

If you want to add a tray like the one we have to the side, follow these instructions. It gives a perfect place to hold your phone without cluttering up the top of the unit.

Purchase a VEMUND tray that is designed to attach to a magnetic whiteboard, but obviously, our drawer unit isn’t metal, so you need to add a strip of metal to the unit.

You need some self-adhesive metal tape and stick it to the side of the unit where you want to attach your shelf.

Then you stick it on the tray, and it will magnetically grip the unit with the attached metal strip. The tray can be easily removed if you don’t want to use it.